The best rope for road trips - Telstra Rope

I first discovered 'Telstra Rope' on our Big Lap when a guy we'd met in a caravan park in WA handed me a coil of it and said "do you want some 'Telstra Rope' - I've got heaps of it?"

He explained to me that it was called Telstra Rope because it was used extensively by Telstra when running cables and it is made to their specifications. They'd use it to pull fibre optic and other cables through the underground pipes.

Regardless of how it came to be named Telstra Rope, that 30 or 40 metres he gave me was well used on the rest of our trip.

Being polypropylene, the rope will float and does not absorb water so it's still easily manageable even in bad weather.

It's also anti rot, anti mildew and tangle free.

I've since bought another 100m x 6mm coil from eBay which was only about $30 and have used it for trailer tie downs, guy ropes, dog rope and many other things.

Telstra rope makes a good dog rope as it's strong and cheap and impervious to the elements

You can find plenty of suppliers on eBay, just search for 'Telstra Rope'.

Steve Baile

I'm a road trip junkie! There's nothing I love more than packing up the 4WD or motorbike and heading for the horizon in search of new adventures. I'm also the founder and Chief Blogger of Expedition Australia.

6 thoughts on “The best rope for road trips - Telstra Rope”

Rigger64says:

The stuff you get off Ebay will infact not be Talstra rope as it is not as thick as Talstra rope & it doesn't have the strand in the yellow strand saying Property of Talstra.
I use to work for Telstra.

RE: Telstra vs Parramatta rope
Hey Guys,
I work in communications and we use this stuff all the time. I'm from Vic and we call it Telstra rope or older guys call it 'telecom rope', but when I was working in NSW all the locals called it Parramatta rope. It's more of a localised thing to Sydney... Also instead of buying the coils, just try and find a cable hauling company in your area or ask some guys if you pass them in the street if they have any... Most of the time they'll give you heaps because we can't be bothered bailing it up and taking it home!

Hi Steve. Interested item on the 'Telstra' rope. Could you tell me whether or not it's reasonably soft and pliable? The trouble with most of the poly rope I've seen is that it is relatively hard and it does not hold a knot very well. Cheers, Graham

Hi Steve. Found your article on "Telstra Rope" interesting - in the Big T business, it is better known as "Parramatta Rope" due to its colours matching the Eels RLFC colours. Never heard of it called Telstra rope before, but I guess if you're in the business, need to call it something else. Cheers.

Hi, Steve. Just read part of your blog ,and we have 2butane stoves in the shed, not knowing that they had been banned earlier this year. I guess they are doomed for the crusher, as I wouldn't want them ending up at the tip, and possibly being picked up by scavengers. It looks like a visit to Bunnings, is on the cards, lol. I agree with your comments about " Telstra rope" 101 uses, just like duct tape and WD40. We have a Hino Bluebird bus, that we're heading off on our " lap" with. She is fully self contained, even with a large solar panel on her roof. Just 2 " grey nomads" heading off on our great adventure.